Definitions of Terms Used
2014-2015 Hunting Regulations

Bait: any feed or edible enticement.

Baiting: the direct or indirect placing or exposing of bait so as to attract or entice wildlife to an area where hunters are attempting to take them. An area is considered to be baited for 10 days after bait is removed.

Big Game: black bear, deer, wild turkey and boar.

Bow: a longbow, recurve bow, or compound bow that is hand-drawn, hand-held and held at full draw without the aid of any mechanical device. Triggering devices or release aids are legal.

Concurrent hunting: hunting of the same and/or other species during a legally prescribed season.

Hunt: to chase, catch or take wild birds or animals.

Licensed adult: an individual who has attained the age of 18 years, and possesses a valid West Virginia hunting and trapping license or is exempt from having to purchase a West Virginia hunting and trapping license.

Life-threatening condition: a terminal condition or illness that according to current diagnosis has a high probability of death within two years even with treatment with an existing generally accepted protocol.

Modified bow: a longbow, recurve bow, or compound bow that has been modified to hold the bow at full draw to accommodate a physical impairment of the user.

Nonresident: person who does not meet the requirements of a resident.

Permanently disabled in the lower extremities: an individual who is permanently and totally disabled due to paralysis or disease in the lower half of the body, which makes it impossible to ambulate successfully more than two hundred feet without assistance.

Possession limit: game taken in WV which is in any way under the hunter's control. Example: the total of all game in a car, truck, home freezer, commercial food locker, or any other storage place.

Private lands: lands owned by an individual(s), partnership, heirship, club, organization or company and/or not qualifying as public land (e.g. National Wildlife Refuges).

Protected: no open season. Hunting at any time shall be illegal for protected wildlife.

Public lands: State or Federal lands owned, leased, licensed to or under the control of West Virginia DNR for wildlife management purposes.

Resident: a person who has been a domiciled resident continuously in West Virginia for 30 consecutive days or more immediately prior to the date of application for a license or permit. This includes members of the U.S. armed forces stationed outside the state who were West Virginia residents at the time of entry into the service and full-time students of a college or university of this state. Nonresident students of West Virginia colleges are not eligible to apply for lifetime licenses. Absentee ownership of land in West Virginia does not constitute legal residence.

Resident landowner privileges: apply to West Virginia residents ¬†who own land in West Virginia, their resident children and parents, or resident tenants when hunting or trapping on their own land. Resident tenants must permanently live on the land.

Small Game: all game and furbearing animals and game birds except big game.